Siren in Bloom [Texas Sirens 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (26 page)

Jack Barnes walked back into the condo. Leo stared after him.

He’d made a horrible mistake.

Leo had to force himself to breathe. He’d shoved Shelley away because she hadn’t answered correctly. He’d been like a child with a toy that hadn’t worked exactly how he’d wanted it.

And he couldn’t take it back.

The French doors flew open and Wolf stood there. “Waffles are going to have to wait, brother. We have trouble.”

“Shelley?” Why hadn’t he put on his shoulder holster? He needed to carry all the fucking time now. He’d been out of the game for far too long.

“No. It’s Kitten. She’s got a package for you in your office.” Wolf’s face was a blank slate. It terrified Leo. It meant that whatever Wolf had seen had deeply affected him. So deeply he had to hide it.

“What is it?” He had the sudden urge to run to Julian’s condo and make sure Shelley was safe. He wanted to see her, hold her. “Where’s Shelley?”

Wolf held out a hand. “She’s with Dani, and apparently there are a bunch of men at this breakfast for the subs. Sam and Finn are with her. She’s fine. This isn’t about Shelley.” Wolf swallowed and took a minute as though he couldn’t figure out just how to say what he needed to say.

Leo took a step forward, unable to stand the waiting. “Goddamn it, Wolf, just tell me.”

“It’s about Ada.”

Leo felt the whole world tip, and he didn’t like where he landed.

Ada. The woman he’d cared for in Afghanistan. Ada. The woman he’d killed.

Shelley thought about sitting down. She thought about walking around. She thought about killing Wolf Meyer.

But mostly she thought about the plug in her ass.

“First time, huh?”

Shelley turned, a little startled. She’d been trying to blend into the wallpaper. Dani’s apartment was full of lovely women and a few truly gorgeous men. They all seemed to know the others. Their easy manner with each other made Shelley realize just how long she’d been without a social network. Bryce had cut her off from her real friends, insisting that she spend time with his business acquaintances. She’d gotten used to “friendship” being an exchange of pleasantries that went no further than commenting on clothes and shoes.

She missed Beth. Her brother’s wife had been the first person she had been able to talk to in years, but she’d moved away. Now, she felt odd in a room full of women and men who seemed to be friends.

The redhead in the truly stunning white, surplice-cut dress looked at her expectantly. There was a mimosa in each hand and a smile on her face.

It was as good a time as any to jump back into the pool. She wasn’t going to make friends by standing in the corner.
Damn it
. She’d been good at this once. She could be good at it again. “Yes, it’s my first time. I’ve been in the penthouse before but not for Saturday-morning brunches. It’s all so lovely.”

The redhead laughed a little. “That wasn’t what I meant, hon. I was asking if it was the first time your Dom forced you to walk around with a damn piece of plastic up your butt.”

Shelley felt her face go up in flames.

The woman pressed her extra mimosa into Shelley’s hand. “Drink up, honey. It really does get better. I’m Abby Barnes, by the way.”

Shelley drank the whole damn glass in a single gulp.

A gorgeous blond man in jeans, a Western shirt, and a cowboy hat stepped up, his arm going around Abby’s waist. He held out another mimosa. “We were right, weren’t we, baby? You’ll feel better after three or four of these.”

She took the proffered glass, but sipped it at more sedate pace. “Can everyone tell? How can everyone tell? Oh, my god.”

Abby patted her shoulder encouragingly. “It’s a little thing, hon. Sam caught it when you walked in.”

The man named Sam tipped his hat her way in a sweetly old-fashioned gesture. “I sure did, ma’am.”

“There’s a tightness around your eyes, and you’re walking a little carefully.” Abby took a sip of her drink. “It’s nothing the vanilla world would catch on to, but we’ve all been there. Poor Sam here didn’t sit down for hours.”

“Jack was kind, baby. He sent me out to get my tat. It’s on the back of my neck. I had to lie on my stomach in that chair for about six hours. It was perfect.” Sam’s hand went to the back of his neck. Shelley could see the tendrils of a well-done tattoo coming around the place where his shoulders met his neck. “I think Jack was way nicer than this poor lady’s Dom. He didn’t send me to a party the first time he shoved a plug up my butt.”

Shelley couldn’t help but grin. It actually was kind of funny. “At least he sent me to a party where everyone’s in the lifestyle. I think Wolf would find it highly amusing. He’s got a bent sense of humor.”

And the most amazing tongue. He’d joined her in the shower and gotten on his knees, telling her he needed his breakfast. He’d eaten her pussy right there in the shower. He’d shoved his tongue up her cunt until she’d cried out, and then he’d soaped her whole body, washing her with a tenderness that made his rough use of her in bed even hotter.

And then he’d dried her off and forced her to bend over and accept a plug up her ass.

It felt weird.

Sam’s blue eyes had gone wide. “Wolf? As in Leo’s brother Wolf?”

“You know Leo?” The question came out of her mouth, and then she realized how stupid it was. Of course they knew Leo. Everyone at The Club knew the resident Dom.

Abby put her drink on a passing waiter’s tray and turned, revelation in her eyes. “You’re Shelley McNamara. Sam, she’s Trev’s sister.”

Something passed between the two and then Sam nodded slightly, a bit more sober than before. “We’ve never been introduced, but you’ve met our Dom, Jack Barnes.”

Now that was a name she did know. Jack Barnes had been deeply helpful with her brother, teaching him new methods of ranching. “Of course. Jack is such a nice man.”

Abby grinned a little. “He is, indeed. And yet he still made us walk around with that damn plug. Can we help you sit down? It can be awkward until you get used to it.”

She had a sudden vision of herself being lowered into a chair with a crane. Nope. She would just stand. Maybe forever. “I’m really fine.”

Abby nodded. “I did the same thing. It was a long time before I could sit with one of those damn things.” Her eyes lit up. “Oh, my baby girl is here. Sam, you didn’t tell me Lexi was coming up.”

Shelley looked over and Lexi O’Malley was walking into the room with Lucas on her arm. She waved toward her mother and stepfather. Abby and Sam rushed off to greet her. Shelley gave her a nod. They knew each other in passing, having lived in the same small town for a while.

Shelley sipped her drink and looked around. She knew she was probably being paranoid, but it felt like everyone was watching her, whispering behind their hands. She’d come because Dani had invited her, but now she wondered when she could leave. Maybe she could sneak out.

And Wolf would be pissed since he’d told her he would come by and pick her up himself.

Not being able to walk around without an armed escort was going to get damn annoying. She looked up and saw a lovely blonde woman coming her way and then realized she shouldn’t walk out of here. She needed to run.

Janine. Leo’s ex-wife was walking up to her, a look of purpose in her eyes. “Hey, Shelley, how’s it going?”

She decided that if she was in for a penny, she might as well be in for a pound. Maybe a little humor was needed when dealing with her pseudo ex’s ex. “I have a plug up my ass. How about you?”

“Oh, we’re going to get along nicely.” Janine smiled and seemed deeply friendly, but Shelley had been around small-town sharks long enough to know that a smile was just a way of baring teeth. “I love the sarcastic ones.”

Shelley was a little confused. She remembered that Janine had talked about topping her husband the night before. “I thought this brunch-thing was for subs.”

Janine nodded. “Yes, and we lucky switches get to pick. You’ll note that almost all the switches come to the sub events. Lucas O’Malley over there could go to either, but he prefers the ladies. I do, too, though for different reasons. Lucas is bi. I just can’t stand all the testosterone at Julian’s gatherings. So much chest-thumping alphaness, and that includes the Dommes. It’s way more fun here. So how is Wolf these days?”

It occurred to Shelley that this woman had known both the brothers for a long time. She so wanted to talk about them, to ask about what they were like when they were younger, what kinds of trouble they’d caused. She’d known Wolf as a very young man. But she was wary. “He’s great. We’re getting along nicely.”

“Yeah, I could tell from that scene last night.”

She choked on her mimosa.

Janine laughed. “Get used to it. It’s a very open lifestyle. There isn’t a single person in this room whose private parts haven’t been on full display. And seriously, I will cheer the first time Wolf gets naked. I will bless you as a goddess among women if you get that man out of his leathers in a public place.”

“I thought you were married to Leo.” Shelley was a bit confused.

“A girl can dream, right? I met Wolf when he was just a kid. He was like twenty-one. He was six foot five and a slab of pure muscle. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to have him in a high school class. He was a goddamn
Lifetime
cautionary tale on two legs. Leo had already introduced me to the lifestyle by the time we met, and the first thing that went through my head was, damn, we should have a ménage.”

Again, she felt her face heat.

Janine’s eyes narrowed. “A girl would be damn lucky to be in between those two.”

She had the distinct feeling Leo’s ex-wife had a point. “I suppose so.”

Janine frowned. “Are you using Wolf to get to Leo?”

Ah. There was the point. “Not at all. I didn’t even know Wolf was Leo’s brother when we started talking. He was just supposed to be the Dom who trained me, but then, well, he’s Wolf.”

“I understand that, but I talk to Leo a lot. I know it’s unusual for exes to talk, but we’re not ordinary. I still love Leo. Always will. I know how he felt about you. I even encouraged him to go after you despite the fact that you were married.”

“It wasn’t much of a marriage.”

Janine shrugged, those intelligent eyes pinning Shelley. “Yet you picked your marriage over Leo.”

Shelley felt her eyes roll. God, she was so tired of this. “Yes, I chose my drug-dealing, blackmailing, cheating husband over Leo. You know why? Because I loved it so much when he fucked every meth head in town, and I was thrilled when he used my business as a front for his crimes. Oh, and I couldn’t resist the way he’d blackmailed me into our marriage. All of that was just too much to walk away from.”

Janine nodded sagely. “Ah. So he threatened Leo, and you were protecting him.”

Well, at least Janine got it. “Yes.”

The blonde woman sighed. “And then Leo did his whole overanalyzing intellectual thing. I can see just how that went. He couldn’t believe you would think he needed protection so he decided you had used and discarded him. God, he can be such a drama queen. See, this is why Wolf is easier. Wolf would have just grunted and not stopped following you around. So, has he totally screwed this thing up with you, or does he still have a shot?”

“Wolf? Well, I’m not happy about the plug, but I have to admit, I’m crazy about him.”

Janine shook her head. “No, honey. I was talking about Leo. Has Leo completely fucked this up or can I talk you into giving him another chance?”

Shelley had to take a little breath and another sip of her drink. God, hadn’t she spent every moment of every day for the last year wishing that Leo wanted another chance? But he’d shut that down. “He doesn’t want a second chance.”

“He can say that all he wants, but I watched him last night. I’ve talked to him. He’s never gotten over you. When I left him, he barely skipped a smile. He was joking with my new boyfriend at the lawyer’s as we filed for divorce.”

“Leo’s pretty resilient.”

“Not for the last fourteen months. He’s changed. He’s been quiet and withdrawn. He hasn’t spent time with friends. He’s stopped flirting. Do you understand how deeply worried that makes me? Leo loves to flirt. And he hasn’t flirted. Not since the day he met you.” Janine leaned against the wall, her arms crossing. “He knew he’d found the one. And now you’re with Wolf, and I worry that if you sleep with Wolf, you won’t ever give Leo another chance. And Wolf works fast.”

“Yes, yes, he does.” He’d worked fast, and he hadn’t been alone.

Janine’s face fell. “Well, then, I guess that’s that. I can’t really see Leo breaking up something good for his brother. You’re going to laugh at this, but I was actually going to try to convince you to tempt Leo into a ménage. I really think he would thrive in that type of relationship. But he would have to be there in the beginning. I don’t think his pride would allow anything less.”

Shelley stared down at the floor. She wasn’t sure she should say a thing. It hadn’t meant anything. Leo had said it himself. It had been sex and adrenaline. When she’d woken up, he’d been gone, and he’d seemed a bit distant all morning long.